HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Huntsville City Schools still has too many racial inequities to move out from under a 1970 federal desegregation order, according to a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The letter, provided by school officials on Monday, says the Justice Department expects the school board to address disparities in student and faculty assignments, advanced courses and discipline as it tries to whittle down a $19.5 million deficit.

Board members' reactions to the letter were as widely divergent as the school conditions detailed in the letter.

School board Vice President Laurie McCaulley, the only black member of the board, was disheartened by the lack of progress the system has made in the 41 years since the court order was issued.

"I'm very disappointed in the inaction from the previous boards, who have known about the situation and haven't gotten us any farther along than where we find ourselves today," she said.

The letter from Justice Department attorney Allison R. Brown makes it clear that federal officials are closely watching the actions of system officials as they attempt to make cuts and close schools to wipe out the deficit.

"As the district works with (consultant) Dr. Ed Richardson to reduce its staff numbers, it must be mindful of its ongoing obligation to ensure that any staff reductions do not hinder efforts to desegregate the district's schools," the letter read.

Brown wrote that, because of the "immediate and extensive" changes the system must make, Justice Department officials would like to discuss with Huntsville officials filing a consent decree to address the disparities it has found.

The letter also gave the system until March 7 to provide additional information regarding students assignment, student transfers, faculty and staff assignment and school facilities.

Board members said Monday that they do not expect to meet that deadline.

"We're going to work on getting the requested information compiled, but we certainly won't be able to make the deadline they've given," said David Blair.

Board attorney J.R. Brooks agreed.

"We will respond in due time," he said.

It was unclear what would happen if the deadline was missed, and Brown did not return a phone call seeking comment.

The Feb. 16 letter was addressed to Brooks, who in December 2007 mailed four boxes of school system data to Washington. That submission marked the first step in the lengthy process of coming out from under the 1970 court order, which ended a dual school system based on race.

Although the response, coming three years later, did not expressly deny the system unitary status, it gave eight pages of examples why school officials should not expect that change anytime soon. Unitary status is achieved when what was once a dual system is legally declared a single system.

Using enrollment data from the 2007-2008 school year, investigators found that Huntsville's student enrollment was nearly evenly divided by race, with 43.1 percent black and 48.7 percent white students, yet the majority of the district's schools were "racially identifiable as black or white due to the composition of their respective student bodies."

Board president Topper Birney disagreed with the Justice Department's view, saying he believes the issue is one of economics.

"I don't think it's black and white that's separating the north and the south, it's economics," said Birney. "We are gradually getting away from the pay gap, and gradually we'll see a more homogenous blend of people.

"The schools are just a reflection of the neighborhoods," Birney said.

Investigators also found a similar trend, however, in the school system's assignment of teachers.

During the 2007-2008 school year, at predominantly black Ed White Middle School, for example, 80 percent of teachers were black. At Grissom High School, which serves mostly white students, only 7 percent of teachers were black.

"This pattern is observed throughout the district and contributed to the racial identifiability of its schools," the federal letter said.

White schools offered two and three times more advanced courses than black schools and, even in predominantly white or "non-racially identifiable" schools, black students participated in advanced courses in much lower numbers.

Even kindergartners were being suspended as forms of discipline in black elementary schools. At Montview Elementary School three students were suspended, two on multiple occasions, and at University Place Elementary, seven students were suspended a total of nine times.

McCaulley said for her, that information was the only real surprise in the letter.

"The kindergartners got me; it was a total shock," McCaulley said. "To me, there's just something not quite right about that."

The Justice Department recommended that Huntsville consider hiring consultants to help with disparities in advanced courses and student discipline.

Board members said they were not surprised by the Justice Department's findings and, except for McCaulley, did not express dismay.

"This is something we're all going to have to work together on," said Blair, who represents District 2. "I would ask that everybody stay calm, and we'll work through it and talk about it publicly.

"I don't think there are going to be any Draconian changes to get us to the point where we have unitary status," he said.

Blair said he believes that the issues will be solved as the board moves forward with fixing the system's finances and academics.

Jennie Robinson, District 3 representative, agreed.

"As we address achievement issues in the schools, which we are working on anyway, we are going to address these problems," Robinson said.

Alta Morrison, who represents District 5, said she also believes the issues will be taken care of over time.

"When we have let all the people go that we have to, when that's done and when people are shifted around, a lot of that will be answered," Morrison said.

McCaulley said some things, such as where students live, are beyond the board's control, but that other things can be addressed.

"The faculty (disparities), we can do something about that," McCaulley said. "And we can look at our student discipline problems. The course offerings, we can do something about as well."

Still, McCaulley is upset that the disparity in advanced course offerings has not been remedied before now.

"The community's been saying for several years, as far back as I can remember, that Huntsville's curriculum was not the same (for white and black students)," she said.